Wiping out bin Laden's camps -- assuming that is where the ops are trained and staged possibly -- would certainly deter the next round by a significant amount. The reason terrorists do what they do is they believe they can get away with it. That's fundamental. If the consequences of terrorism are themselves terrifying, a deterrent has occurred.

Amos, just to weigh in on this, I'm afraid I can't quite agree. The only consequences that the terrorists are interested in this inflicting the maximum possible death and destruction on their targets. Once this is accomplished, "getting away with it" doesn't matter. In the attacks on WTC and the Pentagon and in many other terrorist attacks around the world, the perpetrators have amply demonstrated their willingness, perhaps even eagerness, to die for their cause. I think there is cause to believe that attacks, military or otherwise, on bin Laden or the terrorist training camps will be the trigger to launch a series of massive attacks on a large number of targets within the United States and perhaps other places in the world. That's not the way to handle this situation.

In your next post you say . . . one of the prime motivations in agreeing to die taking out Allah's enemies is the desire for a little glory or recognition for your own actions, even if posthumously. Exactly my point.

I don't know what kind of "expert advisers" George W. Bush and our military leaders have available to them, but recent history seems to demonstrate that the aspects are anything but promising. If I were in charge (which, thank God, I am not), one thing I would do is hire the services of authors such as Tom Clancy, John Grisham, and others like them. Why? Because many of these people have the imagination and the demonstrated ability to create scenarios which our politicians and "experts" so obviously lack. In my own mind, I can conjure up all manner of horrors that I'm afraid we might have to learn to defend against, and Clancy et al are much better at this sort of thing then I am. It may sound like a far-out idea, but I think it should be seriously considered. Something like that, I think, is essential for any kind of realistic defense against terrorist attacks.

Diplomacy, persuasion, and example are going to be our best weapons against our self- proclaimed enemies. I know this idea won't go down well with people who want vengeance, immediate responses, and those who assumed that military action is the only solution. Nevertheless, this is a whole new kind of conflict, and we better learn how to handle it if we're going to have any chance of surviving.

Don Firth